Driving mechanism for torpedoes.



nc. BfPAGE; DRIVING MECHANISM FOR TORPEDOES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 28. 1913- METTE@ PATENT @FETCH FRANK C. B. PAGE, GFBBOKLY, NEVI YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 E. W. BLISS COMPANY, OF IBRGKLYN, NTE YOEK, fa. CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

BREWING VLECHANISM FOR TORPEDOES.

31,155,435, Y Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Qct. 5 1915..

Application led January 28, 1913. Serial No. 744,703.

4certain diliiculties have been encountered which it is the purpose oi' this invention to obviate.

The patent to Leavitt No. @8,759 dated January 9, 1904, shows a turbine turning upon a longitudinal axis coincident with the main axis of the torpedo and driving the propeller' shaft through reducing gearing. The turbine is an impulse turbine of the two-stage type, that is to say, it has two bucket wheels with an interposed stationary reverser having bucket-s which receive the exhaust from the bucketsot a prim ary wheel and reverse its direction of how and direct it against the buckets of the secondary wheel.

Torpedoes having the propelling mechanism shown in this patent operate successfully after launching and when launcaed under water; but when launched through the air the torpedo before striking the water executes a preliminary twisting or rolling movement, so that it enters the water with a pronounced list, which however corrects itself after the torpedo becomes immersed. This preliminary roll is probably due to the reaction against the impact nozzles due to overcoming the inertia of the turbine wheels and the parts driven from them while bringing them up to speed.

The patent to Davison No. 858,256 dated June 25, 1907, shows a torpedo having two turbine wheels turning likewise around the major axis of the torpedo, but differing lfrom the foregoing in that the two wheels revolve in contrary directions at equal speeds, the respective wheels being connected to the' propeller shaft through rever gearing whereby the oppositeiy revolving Wheels drive the propeller shafts both in the same direction. The two turbine wheels and their lconnected parts are given similar weights and proportions in order that their opposite moment of inertia sha-ll equalize one another so that the sum thereof shall be zero; the theory being4 that an unbalanced turbine develops a gyroscopic action which has some tendency to pervert the normal steering of the torpedo, and by balancing the turbines and neutralizing this gyroscopic effect, such disturbance'is avoided.

The arrangement last described'has the edect of practically eliminating the preliminary roll during an overboard launching, a result which probably is due more to the practical elimination of the nozzle reaction than to the avoidance of any gyroscopic effect. As the latter el'ect should theoretically result in a precessional tendency which would manifest itself as a disturbance of the normal steering of the torpedo in either the vertical or horizontal plane, and as no such result was noticeable in the operation ot' the unbalanced turbine according to said Leavitt patent, it seems probable that the gyroscopic action is relatively so slight as to be negliglible.

In the pending application of Leavitt, Serial No. 689,136, filed April 8, 1912, (patented February 24, 1914, No. 1,088,0Sai) balanced turbines are provided which instead of turning on the longitudinal axis of the torpedo are mounted on an axis transverse thereto, preferably a vertical axis; and the gearing is so arranged that it not only insures the contrary rotation of the turbine wheels at equal speeds, but it also serves for driving the respective propeller screws in contrary directions at equal speeds, whereby the nest of reversing gears previously located in the tail section of the torpedo is lcombined. or merged with the gearing incldental to the reversed turbines and located conveniently adjacent thereto. This ar rangement has operated with a high degree of success, but has the disadvantage in com -mon with that'shown in said Davison patent of involving the use of two concentric turbine shafts the one having bearings within ythe other, with their attendant complications and difficulty Vof lubrication.

The present invention aims to simplify .the mechanism and avoid the disadvantages last mentioned. To this end essentially a single and therefore unbalanced turbine is employed mounted upon an axis transverse to the torpedo, with balanced reversing gear ing interposed between the shaft of said 'wheel :and the respective propeller shaft.:

whereby to impart to the latter a uniformi and balanced torque acting in contrary directions to revolve the propellcrs' at equal speeds. Preferably a turbine of the twostage typel is employed, comprising two bucket Wheels with an interposed reverser as in said first namedpatent. By this means use of such unbalanced turbine.

I attain the simplicity incident to an unbalanced turbine and avoid the disadvantage of the preliminary roll in overboard launching which formerly accompanied the Assuming 'such roll to be due to the Anozzle reaction, the latter exerted a torque causing the torpedo to execute apartial rotation around its longitudinal axis, so long as the torpedo, being poised in air, offered little resistance to such movement; but with the arrangement provided by my .present invention the .torque due to nozzle reaction tends'to swing the torpedo about a transverse axis, a tendency Fsection-of thev after portion of Iajtorpedo hull showing the propelling mechanism in elevation (for example in' inverted plan); Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the turbine engine and gearing on a larger scale.

'Assuming the turbine to turn on an upright axis this view is a. vertical section.

In Fig. 1, A is the hull or shell of a torpedo, B and B are the propellers, C is the inner propeller shaft carrying the propeller B, C is' the outer propeller shaft carrying v thet propeller B', and D is the turbine.

tReferring to Fig.' 2, the turbine D is mounted on a shaft E turning in suitable .bearings such as a b and c (one of which may"l be omitted, two bearings being sufici'en't). The shaft Ehas two 'pinions Eli and E2. The 'pinion E1 meshes with a gear having attached to or formed integrally4 with it a bevel pinion G, the'two turning on an axis parallel with the shaft E and shown as a transverse studv or fixed shaft H. 'The vpinion G meshes with and drives two bevel gears and J which are thus drivent in contrary directions; The gear I is keyed lon the.

inner propeller shaft C andthe' gear J is keyed on theouter propeller shaft C; thus the two propellers are driven in contrary directions at -"equal speeds. W

nerder to strengthen the gearing and balance the torque imparted bythe pinion G to the gears I J, an opposite pinion G is provided identical with the pinion G and lixed to or integral with a gear F, which gear is driven from the pinion E2 through. the intermediation of an idler gear K (Fig. l). Necessarily the ratio between pinion E2 and gear G1 -is the same as that between pinion E1 and gear F. The gear F is .made enough smaller than the gear F so that it clears the pinion E2.

r-lhe gears being thus` correctly proportioned, the turbine communicates an equal and balanced torque through its pinions El and E2 to and through the gears F and F', and thepinions G and G for driving the gears I and J and the respective propeller shafts and screws'in contrary` directions at equal speeds.

For driving the'turbine, com-pressed air from the usual source thereof and controlled in the manner well understood in automobile torpedoes, is conducted through a pipe L and nozzle- M, whence it impinges upon the buckets of the turbine in the well understood manner. It is preferable to use an impact turbine of the doubleeffect type, and to this end the two'turbine wheels D1 and D2 are constructed as in said Leavitt Patent No. 748,759, being spaced somewhat apart and having interposed between them a reversing block P, as is usual in this type of turbine, this block having reversing ports d for changing the direction of the fluid leaving the buckets of the primary wheel before directing it against the buckets of the secondary wheel, in order th' t both buckets l may be impellediin the same direction. In the construction shown the torpedo has a transverse bulkhead Q through which the nozzle opens and to which the block P is ffastened. i

Nhile-the mechanical constructionis immaterial, the'construction shown is suitably adapted for thesupport and correlation of the respective parts. The transverse shaftH has its ends fastened in frames e e which at one end carry the respective bearings a c,-

and at the other end are connected by ayoke f. The fixed shaft H has a middle hub g which forms a bearingfor the inner shaft C,

and the latter has 'a step bearing d in a fixed frame j which also carries the bearing b..

The describedconstruction avoids the complication heretofore due tohavin the turbine wheels revolving in contrary irections, the one uponv an innen'shaft and the l other upon an outer tubular shaftinclosing I' the' inner one, and involving' serious diii- .culties 1n the construction of thebear1ngs and in their lubrication. 'The single-shaft E is mounted in external bearings which are readily accessible, and which may be lubrif cated from the exterior instead of requiring internal. iubricating ducts.

axis, inner The construction herein described avoids all ditliculties hereto'for encountered in the occurrence of an initial roll during launching, and introduces no perceptible difficulty by reason of gyroscopic disturbance.

l claim as my invention l. ln an automobile torpedo, a turbine turning on an axis transverse to the torpedo, inner and outer propeller shafts, opposite bevel gears on said'shafts respectively, 0pposite pinions meshing with both bevel gears, Vand reducing gears for driving said pinions in contrary directions at equal speeds from. said turbine.

f2. ln an automobile torpedo, a turbine turning in a horizontal plane on a vertical and outer propeller shafts, -opposite bevel gears on said shafts respectively, opposite pinions meshing with both bevel gears, and reducing gears for driving saidpinions in contrary directions at equal speeds from said turbine.

3. In an automobile torpedo, a turbine turning on an axis transverse to the torpedo,

a shaft driven thereby having tivo pinions,

' both said gears, and gear inner and outer propeller shafts, opposite bevel gears on said shafts respectively, op-

posite bevel pinions meshing with both said said bevel p inions respectively, one of said gears meshing with one of the pinions on said turbine shaft, and the other of said ears driven from the other pinion on said shaft through an idler gear.

`In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK o. n.' PAGE.

Witnesses:

F. L. CoLWELL, Jr., H. C. SENERsoN.

wheels driving 

